Health Information for Disaster Preparedness in Central America Central American Network for Disaster Health Information Presentation to: World Bank October 2008 By: John C. Scott Center for Public Service Communications

Project Origins Hurricane Mitch El Salvador Earthquakes 2001 Currently throughout Central America

is Managing Disasters is Managing Information Reliable information is the most valued commodity before and after a disaster.

NLM/PAHO Special Project Unique opportunity for collaboration between NLM, as the world’s largest medical library and PAHO whose mission is improving the health of the people of the Americas Implementation Partners: the Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America and the Caribbean CRID) and Center for Public Service Communications (CPSC)

Disaster Information Management Wealth of information but little is accessible Information about lessons learned is valuable throughout the region, but little in writing and often not circulated. Grey Literature Disaster health information is perishable: it’s not peer- reviewed; frequently unpublished and not widely available Internet Access Internet access has been limited, but this is changing. Info access has gone from weeks/months to minutes and from hard copy to searchable electronic files

Project Objectives Training of health science librarians Improving technology infrastructure Development of Information Products

Technology Infrastructure Computer Equipment Installation Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama Each site received a server, router, UPS, switch, laser printer, scanner, and minimum two PCs Internet Connectivity

Information Products Digital Library 3,800 documents digitized and available through the CRID web site Links from DESASTRES database to documents Documents also available from local disaster information centers CDs: Top 100 documents special topics

Information Products (continued) Document accessibility Develop full-text searching capability of documents Web site development by participating sites Health resources Disaster resources Local resources

Other Activities Disaster Health Information Center Toolkit Expansion of Network Funding from UK to add Guatemala Possible Caribbean, South America expansion Increased attention to related issues: environmental health/toxicology Promotion and Evaluation Information Product Development Information Technology Support